Pascal DEGRAEVE

The growing consumer demand for the development of functional foods with a number of benefits for the consumer has led to a considerable increase in the studies focused on examining different natural agents to be included in the composition of newly developed functional foods. The chemical compositions of the essential oils (EOs) of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.), peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), raspberry seed (Rubus idaeus L.), and ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata (Lam.)) were determined using gas chromatography with a mass selective detector (GC-MS). The antibacterial and antifungal activities of these EOs were examined using a high-throughput 96-well microplate bioassay procedure and the MICs of each EO against each test microorganism were determined. The results indicated significant antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Salmonella abony NTCC 6017, Pseudomonas aeruginosa NBIMCC 1390, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 19659, Penicillium chrysogenum ATCC 28089, Fusarium moniliforme ATCC 38932, Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015, and Aspergillus flavus ATCC 9643. To explore their potential applications in food preservation, model chocolate mousse food emulsions were prepared that incorporated EOs and/or selected probiotic lactobacilli strains in both free and encapsulated forms. The inclusion of EOs and/or probiotic lactobacilli resulted in enhanced microbial safety and an extended shelf life. Furthermore, the chocolate mousse variants that were biopreserved with the inclusion of probiotic lactobacilli maintained a high viable lactobacillus cell concentration throughout the storage period. As a result, these products would not only be suitable as functional probiotic foods but also as effective delivery vehicles for probiotic lactobacilli.